Do you know that Scouts shake with their left hand across the globe? There are various explanations why Scouts shake with left hands. However, the authentic one comes from Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the scouting movement.
Colonel met the chief of the Ashanti tribe and saluted the leader with his right hand; the chief offered his left hand and said,
In our land only the bravest of the brave shake hands with the left hand, because to do so we must drop our shields and our protection.
As you may know, 90% of the world population is right-handed. Your dominant hand may be the right one. However, today, we will find out why you should use your non-dominant hand at least once a week for 24 hours.
This article aims to use your non-dominant hand to generate stronger connections between your hemispheres to unleash creativity.
Using your non-dominant hand will force certain parts of the right hemisphere to be more alert. That action will generate new neural connections, which are also important to boost brainpower.
It’s not a bad idea, for certain skills, to be good at each hand. — Michael Corballis
Here are some reasons to use your left hand at least once a week.
Unleash creativity
Study shows that using your non-dominant push your brain to integrate the hemispheres better to boost creativity.
There is research that musicians who use both hands have about a 9 percent increase in the size of their corpus callosum [the part of the brain that connects the two hemispheres], so certainly, using both hands creates more transfer. — Hale
Your body’s balance
Some of us have specific physical imbalances from left to right. These aren’t always ideal, and they may lead to postural issues and a variety of other maladies that can be prevented with a bit of balance.
It’s not always helpful that a simple task using your left hand will fix the imbalance issue. But research shows that it will help naturally balance your body most of the time. This brings us to the next part, how to use the left hand to boost brainpower.
What I do with my left hand every Sunday (24h)
Whatever I perform with my right hand the rest of the week, just one day, Sunday, I use the left hand all day. I am right-handed. If your dominant hand is left-hand, use the right hand.
I start my day on Sunday by brushing my teeth with a non-dominant hand. It may look like a simple task, but it’s challenging in reality. I must say, it’s hard to sustain hand movement. It literally looks funny in the mirror.
All-day, I consciously use my non-dominant hand and do some of the following to create more neural connections.
- Brush my teeth
- Open jars with the non-dominant hand
- Protein shake before gym
- Turn on the tap
- Pouring water into a glass
- Making tea
- Cleaning body
- Empty dishwasher
- Using computer mouse
- Can opener
- lock/unlock the main door
- Toasting (putting Nutella, jam, or peanut butter)
- Hard-one, using chopsticks
- Using smartphone
- Washing dishes
- Brushing hair
You should try some of them this week to boost your brainpower.
Bottom line
Science shows that there are mental health benefits of using the non-dominant hand. Using the left hand is a workout for the brain, like hitting the gym is for the muscles. Neuroscientists clarify that brain exercises may help create new neurons that are beneficial for older adults.
For anti-aging brain difficulties, using the left hand improves our mental fitness and resilience; according to Harvard Medical School studies, the more complex the brain training, the better mental wellness.
Thank you for reading, and let me know if you ever tried to use your non-dominant in the comments.
